Promise of the World
by PlumaWolf
Summary: Who is Gon's mother? Well, here's my take on this particular topic. *I do not own HxH *Also on Wattpad under the same username *May contain humor *Previously titled 'Trial by Fire'
1. Prologue

The ocean seethed and roiled beneath the dark, bruised clouds, and the wind howled and tore up vegetation as great bullets of rain punished the land, shearing great chunks of rock from the cliff side to plummet into the water. It was the largest and most violent storm this bit of land had ever seen, a phenomenon that had the beasts of the land retreating deep into their dens for shelter. Lightning flashed, and a clap of thunder ripped through the air, illuminating the carnage for one brief moment before plunging everything into darkness once more. A figure inside the mouth of a small cave shivered and curled up into a tighter ball, hiding their face from the freezing, cutting wind.

A particularly violent gust barreled through, threatening to rip the figure out of the tight little hole they had packed themself into. The figure was trembling violently from cold and fear, but gathered up the courage to make their way deeper inside the cave to seek shelter from the cruel wind and rain. Another flash of lightning revealed the figure to be a woman, her long dark hair sticking to her face and grey eyes holding the sort of look a cornered animal would woman ventured deeper into the cave, the dark soon consuming what little light came from outside. It seemed to go on for quite a while, and the woman vaguely wondered if it would eventually flood.

All of a sudden she froze, staying absolutely still as the crunch of bone and the tearing of meat met her ears. Something else was occupying the cave, something that sounded just as large, if not larger, than her. The woman crouched, frozen, for what seemed like an eternity, the frantic thudding of her heart drowned out in the din of the storm still raging outside. She couldn't see what was ahead of her, but she could definitely hear it. It sounded like it was gorging itself upon an abundance of food, almost frantically, and the woman's own stomach ached with hunger. The storm had been going on for nearly a week, and the only thing she had been able to catch were stray insects and crustaceans hiding in narrow cracks and crevices in the rock. Perhaps she could take this creature by surprise, and kill it before it killed her?

Carefully, ever so carefully, she moved her foot forward, her breath freezing in her throat. Withdrawing her aura into Zetsu had become almost instinctive by now, and as she crept forward, the sounds of tearing flesh grew louder. However, once she had determined that she was near enough to administer a desperate strike in the dark, the creature in front of her paused in the darkness, sniffing, right when the woman's foot nudged the skull of some sort of small animal, making it skitter loudly across the stone.

A beat of silence passed, the woman's pulse thundering in her ears before the creature let out a terrifying screech. The woman sensed it make a lunge at her and just barely managed to scramble away, feeling a pair of jaws narrowly miss her calf. She bounded back up through the passage like a rabbit, the creature hot on her heels. The woman darted back to the entrance of the cave and risked a glance back. She couldn't go out into the storm; the wind would blow her away and smash her against the rocks. But she couldn't stay here; she was too weak from her hunger to fight off the creature in the tunnel.

Unfortunately, the choice wasn't hers as the creature, looking rather like an enormous, two meter tall ant, barreled right into her, knocking the both of them out into the furious storm. A long staff materialized in the woman's hand, which she used to hold back the insect's sharp pincers and only got in a single blow to the insect's front appendage, smashing it so hard that it nearly severed it from the arm, before the wind caught them both, ripping them away from each other and hurling them straight over the cliffs, blowing them west as if they were mere leaves caught in a breeze.

A bit of rock caught in the vicious gale struck the side of the woman's head. Her last thoughts before passing out were of a scruffy man with golden-brown eyes and her infant son, both of whom she hadn't seen in nearly thirteen years.

A/N: Well? Is it a decent prologue...?


	2. Chapter 1

~29 years earlier~

Vera's family was trained in the way of the warrior. All of them followed a code, a code of bravery and honor, of justice and a readiness to aid the weak. All of them descended from a hero of the past who had passed down his teachings through the generations. Therefore, Vera also had a not quite large, but in no way small family that consisted of many cousins and a few aunts and uncles. She was the first born of the main branch of the family, and she had no siblings of her own.

 _But_ _that'll change soon~_ She thought cheerily, bounding back up toward the big house with her hands clasped carefully around something in them and one of the big hunting hounds, Bigby, chasing after her five year old self. Little Vera raced up the steps to the back door, muddy wellies making a trail of little footprints up and into the house as the little girl raced for her mother. Bigby, knowing better than to provoke the head lady's ire for getting mud all over the carpet, stayed outside while Vera tromped around the house and searched for her mother.

Vera, panting slightly and with her hands still clasped carefully in front of her, finally located her mother sitting in the parlor, a book propped up on her very pregnant belly.

"Mommy! Look what I've got!" yelled Vera excitedly, calling the pregnant woman's attention away from her book. The woman almost immediately blanched at all the mud and grass stains covering her small child, and her shoulders sagged at the mud trod all over the carpet. Sighing, she carefully marked her page and turned (with some difficulty) to face her eager daughter.

"Yes, what is it, my child?"

Vera's grey eyes sparkled and she slowly opened up her hands to reveal an enormous, slimy (and slightly pulsating) kind of larva, pale and fat. In her eyes, it was the most interesting creature on the face of the earth in the current moment, and she immediately began to babble all about it.

"IwasjustplayingaroundwithafallenlogandthenIlifteditupandthenIfoundthisguyandIthought'wellI'veneverseenoneofthesequitesobigbefore,'sothenI-" Vera found herself cut off by her mother, who raised a hand for her to stop and gave the girl a small smile that did not completely hide her disgust at what her daughter had just brought into the house.

"Vera, dear, why did bring that in the house? Go put it back outside; it doesn't belong here," She chastised, sighing exasperatedly when Vera's expression dropped a little.

"But… I thought you would like him…" the little girl mumbled, looking down at the fat larva sitting in her palms. The girl's mother gestured outside and Vera did as she was told, plodding back out the door. Bigby bounded up to her and licked her cheek before sniffing at the creature in the girl's hands.

"Hey, no eating, Bee." She said, holding her hands away from the large dog. He was almost as tall as she was. Bigby merely sat beside her as Vera crouched down by some bushes and set the larva down on one of the thin branches. It drooped comically under the larva's weight, and Vera giggled as it began to make its way up to the center of the bush.

The girl loved animals of every shape, size and variety. She was constantly in the forest, spying on birds taking care of their young, following after the graceful deer that walked along an animal trail she had discovered in her first ventures out into the wild, or turning over stones in search of toads or various insects. Unfortunately, Vera's mother, Lady Rosemary Dae-Ulyss, did not understand her daughter's curious nature. She simply could not comprehend Vera's fascination with _grubs_ , and other such 'distasteful' things. But Rosemary was not a bad mother. She was strong, capable, and usually very patient. One had to be when married to the head of a clan that was positively dominated by men.

Rosemary pressed a hand to her back as she stood up slowly, rubbing her belly and huffing out a small breath in exertion. The woman frowned to herself, remembering when she had been able to perform great acts of strength with little to no trouble. That had been before she had gotten pregnant with Vera. Back then, she had been able to go toe to toe with the then heir to the main branch of Clan Ulyss and earn the right to be taught in their ways.

 _To think I ended up marrying that boy…_ She thought fondly, thinking back to when her husband had been an arrogant young man. Rosemary slowly made her way over to the door and had only just opened it when a little blur went zipping down the hallway in front of her. _I got a beautiful daughter out of it._ The woman placed her hand on her belly once more. _And a son any day now._

Yes, Rosemary Dae-Ulyss was a happy woman nowadays, with her little daughter going off on her adventures, tracking mud into the house (even though she abhorred the fact that the girl just _kept on doing it_ even after being told not to so many times) and showing her all manner of creatures that she had caught in her tiny hands, ranging from whatever kind of larva that was this morning ( _I really hope she didn't put that on one of my hydrangea bushes_ ) to a songbird with a broken wing.

It was only three days later that the accident happened. On a short trip to the village, Rosemary had gotten caught in a mugging and had been pushed out into oncoming traffic. Rosemary survived, but at a great cost.

Vera had been with her mother at the time, holding her hand and jabbering happily away at her about butterflies when a man with a scraggly beard and a knife in his hand had approached them from an alleyway, seeing the pregnant woman and the little girl as easy targets. Vera watched in horror as her mother did her best to defend herself, managing to slam her palm into the man's face and break his nose. However, Rosemary was not the woman she used to be, and only managed to anger the man. He had wrestled her purse off of her before shoving her out into the street and taking off. One can imagine what happened next.

The little girl sat still in one of the hospital's plastic chairs, staring down at her knees. They had taken her mother through a pair of those big doors and she hadn't come back yet. Almost the entire family was crammed into the waiting room, most of her cousins and aunts and uncles, as well as her father, who sat beside her, his elbows on his knees and his fingers laced together, dark bags under his troubled eyes. It was clear that Vera had taken after her father more than her mother, having inherited Atlas Ulyss' dark hair with green tips and his grey eyes, rather than Rosemary's light brown hair and blue eyes.

Little Vera let out a little sniff, her tears having long since dried up, leaving only shock and grief behind. Emotions a child like her should not have been exposed to yet. Atlas, with all his stoic determination, had kept his tears from showing themselves, and yet he still felt fear for his wife and unborn son's survival. Reaching over to his small daughter, he pulled her into his arms, not even caring that she wiped her runny nose on his shoulder.

The baby did not survive.

It was to be expected, from an impact like that. Rosemary had escaped with her life, which was somewhat of a miracle in and of itself. Or so the doctors said. Any ordinary person would have died from the collision.

When she woke up, Rosemary was devastated over the fact that she had lost her baby, and it only hurt more when the doctors told her that she wouldn't be able to have any more children after this. After a few weeks of recovery (the doctors said that she healed unusually quickly), Rosemary was able to go home.

The big house was solemn for weeks on end, but as time went by, the pain gradually lessened, everything almost going back to how it was before. The accident didn't not have it's long term effects, however. Vera, once so gullible and naive, had withdrawn into herself, unwilling to trust anyone outside of her family and doing her best to make herself 'invisible' to anyone in public, focusing more on her training with her father than with any kind of play. Rosemary tended to have lapses in concentration or short-term memory loss every now and then, momentarily forgetting simple things like why she walked into a room or that she had already done the laundry that day. Atlas had now become even more fiercely protective of Vera, pushing her harder and harder in her training in an effort to turn her into a force to be reckoned with.

"The Hunter Exam?!" exclaimed Rosemary, causing a twelve-year-old Vera to jump in her seat and accidentally spill her spoonful of soup onto the tablecloth. The whole table went quiet, looking up toward Atlas, who met his wife's eyes with a calm coolness.

"Yes; for Vera's coming of age trial. It's supposed to be extremely difficult to pass, and it would be the perfect challenge for her."

"B-But people have _died_ trying to pass it! She's just a little girl!"

"Rose. Please, be at peace. If I did not believe that she was more than capable enough to pass, I wouldn't have suggested it." said Atlas.

"But-"

"Let's talk about this later, hm?" Atlas suggested, his eyebrows raised. Rosemary sighed, her eyebrows furrowed.

"...Alright then."

Vera looked uncomfortably between them before shooting her father a look as if to say 'I told you so!'. Technically, the Hunter Exam had been what they had both come up with, and Vera had tried to explain that her mother would never have it. Atlas, with all his bullheaded stubbornness, hadn't listened and just went right ahead and told everyone at the dinner table.

The next morning and after much debating, Atlas had finally convinced Rosemary to let Vera take the Hunter Exam, and the morning after that, Vera set out on her own with only a bag of essentials and her staff, walking down the the harbor to catch a ship on its way to Bradley Town, where the navigators for the Exam would be waiting.

A/N: I apologize for any emotional whiplash, but I wanted to get these first few parts out of the way...


	3. Chapter 2

Vera entered the small train station alone, somewhat doubting the navigator's instructions.

 _Enter the station and ask when train 3-B will arrive. The person at the counter will tell you that it has already left, and that it will only be back the next day. Reply that you don't have any choice but to wait at the station until morning. They will offer to take you to the back room where you may rest. Follow them. They will tell you what to do next._

She quickly located the person behind the counter, a slim blonde woman in a neat blue uniform. Vera approached her, greeting the woman's smile with a small one of her own.

"Excuse me, but when will train 3-B be arriving?" she asked. The woman blinked, then gave her a calculating look.

"I'm so sorry; that train has already left for today and won't be back until next morning."

Vera gave a fake sigh, wary of the other people inside the station.

"Then I guess I have no choice but to stay here until the morning…" the woman behind the counter smiled at her.

"You may stay in the back, if you'd like. We have a few cots for people who need to stay overnight. Please follow me." the clerk pulled open a door and waited for Vera to enter before she did so herself. On the other side was an empty room with several cots against the wall, and a door leading outside into the forest. The woman opened the second door, leaned down to Vera's level, and instructed: "Just head toward the foot of the cliffs, over to where the waterfall is. See?" she pointed over to the sheer cliff face, where a thin waterfall could be seen splashing against the rocks. Vera nodded, her grip on her staff tightening in anticipation.

"Good luck." smiled the woman before closing the door, leaving Vera on her own.

 _Well then,_ Thought the small girl, peering through her bangs to glimpse the pale waterfall and the tall, tall cliff face of the mountain in the distance. _This is the start, I guess._

Upon first glance, Vera appeared to be the only child her age to be participating in the Hunter Exam. Hundreds of adults, all looking tough and somewhat intimidating stood in a great crowd, some chatting quietly with one another, others completely silent. Vera looked down at her number tag, number 246, and hid her face behind her bangs, butterflies starting to make themselves known in her stomach.

"Hey!" someone yelled. Vera jumped, looking around at a pudgy young man with brown hair and a squashed nose. He smiled in a friendly manner and started to approach her, hands in his pockets.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're new here! Must be your first time taking the exam, right? Not that many kids applied this year…" he said, seemingly completely oblivious to Vera's discomfort.

"You've… failed the exam before?" she asked quietly. The man grinned.

"Yup! This is my fourteenth try!" he said, sounding almost proud of himself. Vera's eyebrow twitched. The man held out his hand.

"Anyway, I'm Tonpa. Let's say we be friends, huh?"

Vera didn't take his hand. She didn't come to take the Hunter Exam to make friends; she was here to pass. The girl simply shrugged at Tonpa's enthusiasm. He seemed to be a bit put off, but he brightened up almost immediately. Digging around in his bag, he pulled out a can of juice.

"Ah, let's celebrate our friendship by sharing a drink!" he said, handing a can over to Vera before opening his own. Vera stood with the can in her hand, her mouth quirked down in suspicion. Her father had always warned her about what other people could slip you in food or drinks, and the Hunter Exam was guaranteed to have characters who wouldn't hesitate to sabotage other examinees to get a leg up.

"I think I'll pass…" she said, handing the can back to Tonpa with a small polite smile. The man's eyebrow twitched, but before he could say anything, a loud booming voice echoed from the cliff.

"WELL I SUPPOSE IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME, MAGGOTS!" The crowd of examinees went silent, all looking up to where a large figure could be seen standing atop a small outcrop, and they suddenly dropped down to the ground, making the earth tremble slightly. "WELCOME TO THE 267TH HUNTER EXAM! THE TIME TO GET HERE HAS EXPIRED, AND THE FIRST PHASE OF THE EXAM WILL NOW BEGIN!"

Vera looked to the front to see an extremely muscular man standing up front, straw colored hair swept up into a ponytail and an expertly trimmed beard adorning his strong jaw. The man seemed to be incapable of speaking at a normal volume as he continued to shout entirely too loudly.

"I'M NOT ONE FOR BEATING AROUND THE BUSH, SO I'LL JUST SAY IT STRAIGHT OUT. THE TASK IS SIMPLE: CLIMB UP THE CLIFF FACE TO REACH THE TOP OF MT. SELIM AND GET TO THE NEXT PHASE! YOUR TIME STARTS NOW!" And just like that, the enormous man vanished.

A beat of silence passed before everyone started to swarm up to the cliff face, shoving and kicking each other out of their way. Vera, taken slightly aback by the sudden start, shook her head and rushed over to a slightly less crowded area, taking a leather strap out of her bag and placing it on her back before strapping on her staff. Then, with a deep breath, she hooked her fingers into the rock's crevice, she began to climb.

Vera's fingers were already scraped and sore from the rough rock, and as she looked up, she felt a slight sense of despair at how much farther she still had to go. Examinees were no longer trying to shove each other off the cliff face, instead focusing their energy on climbing. Many had already fallen, very many. Vera gritted her teeth, reaching for the next handhold…

A rumble trembled through the rock, and a sudden scream, much like the ones she had heard when most of the current examinees had fallen back down, tore through the thinning air, and Vera's head whipped around to see an enormous goat with thick white fur and wild red eyes trampling over one of the other applicant's hands, crushing them. Vera's eyes widened. _Those are Curtis goats! From what I've read, they're highly territorial and will get violent if anyone approaches; we must be near to where the rest of the herd lives!_

Just as she thought this, Vera heard and felt more violent rumbles vibrate through the rock, and paled at the dozens of goats leaping down to trample upon the examinees with their hooves the size of dinner plates. She paled when one of them decided to target her, and began to thunder its way over to her. Using her staff, she jammed it into the rock, vaulting into the air and planting her foot on the goat's forehead, using it as a springboard when it bucked, tossing her up into the air as if she were a mere pebble.

Vera scrabbled for a handhold once more, replacing her staff in its place on her back and stayed trembling on the rock for a few more moments before deciding that it was best to keep moving. _I can see a ledge up ahead; that must be where they live primarily… if I could just get above it, then it should be sa-_

"HEY!" someone yelled from a few meters to her left. A boy who looked to be about her age grinned over at her without a care in the world, his spiky black hair whipping around in the cold wind. "That thing you did back there was so awesome!" Vera's eyebrow twitched. _Isn't he affected by this at all?!_ She decided to ignore him and keep climbing.

She had almost reached the ridge when another goat began to descend upon Vera, and this time she wasn't so lucky. Her grip slipped as the goat's mighty hooves come within mere inches of her fingers, and her heart froze in her chest as she began to fall backward.

A hand shot out suddenly, gripping her wrist like a vice and flinging her up and over the goat. Vera again latched onto the rock, and she looked down to see the boy dodge the goat's enormous hooves and scramble up the cliff face like a squirrel. The goat soon became preoccupied with the few more examinees still climbing, and the two reached the ledge, flopping onto the flat surface for a break.

Vera wiped sweat out of her eyes and looked up to where the summit would be. Some of the other examinees were already making the final stretch ahead of her. _Not far now…_ She got to her feet, ignoring the boy next to her, who was clearly trying to catch her eye. Not that he could; her eyes were hidden behind her bangs. Without a word, she began to climb again. She would thank that boy later for helping her out. For now, she had to focus on reaching the summit.

 **Shoutout to gigi-kun for leaving a review; I must say, I appreciate the constructive criticism (I'm always trying to improve my writing), and a little explanation for the Prologue: I started off with the Prologue being a glimpse into the future, and then going all the way back into the past for her childhood in Chapter 1 and moving forward from there, kind of like a 'How did it come to this?'**

 **A little hint: Vera will appear in the canon storyline. Take the prologue as a kind of sneak-peek. And, just a little side note, do not expect me to go on for eleven chapters in a row about the Hunter Exam. I just didn't want to spend a lot of time on it, so excuse me if it seems a bit too simple or rushed. I also apologize in advance for any OOC-ness that may occur...**

 **Anyways, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter! Now if you'll excuse me, I must run off and think about where I want this plot to go...**


	4. Chapter 3

Only twenty applicants had made it past the First Phase. Vera shivered at the temperature so high up. Snow was starting to drift down from the sky. Rubbing her arms again, she looked over to the spiky haired boy next to her and cleared her throat to get his attention. When he looked over, she bowed politely.

"Thank you very much for helping me." she said in a small voice. The boy floundered a little, rubbing the back of his neck with a light blush on his cheeks, although it was more due to the cold than anything else.

"Don't mention it," he extended a hand. "The name's Ging Freecss." Vera straightened from her bow, peering through her bangs at his hand.

"Vera Ulyss…" she muttered, shaking the boy's outstretched hand. He gained a thoughtful look for a moment.

"Like… the plant?" Vera blushed in embarrassment, and was spared any teasing by a soft voice carried over to them by the wind. Up at the front of the small group, the next examiner stood on top of a large boulder overlooking the rest of Mt. Selim, which was covered in snow-blanketed evergreen trees. She had platinum blonde, almost white, hair that contrasted against dark skin, and large amber eyes.

"Welcome to the Second Phase of the Exam…" she said. Vera wondered how the woman wasn't freezing to death in the cold, as she appeared to only be wearing a tank top and a pair of black pants, with knee length leather boots.

"I am Song, an Exotic Beast Hunter. I discover and catalog new species of animal, big or small. Your next task," Song pointed down at the snow-covered trees. "Is to locate a specific animal, the Alonse Lynx, in the forest and bring it to the next checkpoint down at the bottom of the mountain."

A few of the other examinees scoffed at the seemingly easy challenge. Vera's mouth turned down slightly. _It has to be a bit more complicated than that…_ She thought, thinking back to the climb up the mountain. On the way up, she didn't expect to be attacked by killer goats.

"Just one thing…" The examiner's entire persona suddenly did a complete 180 as the woman grinned in a crooked manner with a questionable glint in her eye. "The Alonse Lynx is invisible."

Many of the other examinees were visibly taken aback. How could one catch a creature that was invisible? Song grinned cockily down at them from her perch on the boulder, looking very much like a cat herself.

"Alright then; you have eight hours to track down and retrieve a Lynx, and since I'm feeling nice today, you can all split up into groups of two to look for one. The next Phase is at the bottom of the mountain. Happy hunting!" and with that, she promptly disappeared in a flurry of whirling snowflakes.

Once again, the examinees were all left dumbfounded for a moment, before they started to split up into groups to trek down the mountain. No one approached either Vera or Ging, on account of them being just kids.

"Oi, Vera, I guess we'll have to work together this time," said Ging, glancing over at the small girl. She sighed, but nodded, and they began their search through the trees.

Two whole hours had passed, and neither Vera nor Ging were having any luck. Neither of them could find anything of the creature, not even a set of tracks. Vera was furiously wracking her brains for anything she knew about the Alonse Lynx.

 _They can't be invisible all the time…_ She thought, pausing to examine an impression in the snow while Ging, stopped to sniff at the base of a tree. He apparently possessed an unnaturally keen sense of smell.

"Lynxes usually don't dig den sites… they make them under existing cover, such as under fallen logs or a previously inhabited hollow under the roots of trees…" Vera muttered to herself, crouching down to gaze out over the snow. "...usually hunt the snowshoe hare…"

"Ah! Vera!" the girl turned to look at Ging, whose eyes held a bright glint. "You just gave me an idea!" Vera blinked at him in confusion. The boy continued on without waiting for a reply.

"The snowshoe hare! I've been smelling what seemed like rabbit all over the place, and since that's what you said that's what lynxes usually hunt, we could probably catch one while it's hunting!"

Vera's lips twitched. Ging had a point, and what he had suggested made more sense than just wandering around the mountain until their eight hours were up. She looked up at him, a little smile on her face.

"Alright then; let's get to it!"

Ging had managed to sniff out several snowshoe hares in the past couple of hours, but he and Vera had no such luck finding an Alonse Lynx until their time was nearly up.

Vera had taken to the trees, while Ging crouched in a clump of hardy brambles, watching a single hare as it hopped easily across the snow. With her keen eyesight, Vera spotted impossibly light pawprints appear in the snow, with nothing seeming to make them. Her legs tensed, ready to spring, when the hare paused, ears twitching and nose quivering. The pawprints in the snow stopped. Then…

The hare squealed in fright as a large, snow-white lynx with lighter grey spots appeared out of thin air, claws outstretched. It was at that moment that both Vera and Ging reacted. Vera sprang from her tree like a cat herself, while Ging burst from his clump of brambles, frightening the lynx into running right into Vera's arms before it could disappear.

Vera landed in the snow in a heap, the lynx clutched tightly to her chest while it hissed, trying to scratch at her face and neck. She just decided to hold it close, keeping its claws away from herself with one hand while gripping the scruff of its neck in the other. Ging made his way over to her, body thrumming with the thrill of the adventure.

"C'mon; we've only got about half an hour left." Vera nodded, standing up awkwardly with the lynx in her arms. Its fur was extremely soft, and the feline now sat in her arms with a seemingly grumpy expression on its face. Vera tentatively started to massage its neck and ears, and while it recoiled slightly at first, the lynx relaxed slightly in her hold, no longer struggling. The girl looked up to see Ging staring at her with a strange expression. Vera blushed in discomfort.

"What?"

"I have a feeling you'll be a good Hunter, Vera." said the boy, starting to walk down the slope of the mountain. Vera followed after him, the now passive lynx lounging in her arms after she had fed it meat from the hare that it had previously managed to kill.

Only twenty-five minutes were left until the deadline closed.

Vera and Ging only just made the time limit to get to the next Phase, which was in front of the entrance to a deep gorge. They could see that a total of six other applicants had made it past the Second Phase, each with a restrained lynx in their grasp. Only Vera and Ging's lynx seemed to have been pacified. A small shack was situated to the side, and a slim man with thick brown hair sat in a chair next to it, one leg crossed over the other and an ornate pipe hanging out of his mouth. Vera could see Ging's nose wrinkle out of the corner of her eye. The man checked his watch, then sighed.

"Well well well, you two made it just in time. Only four seconds to spare, to be exact. Alrighty then," he took a long drag from his pipe, exhaling a puff of blue smoke. He grinned.

"Let's get on to the next phase. My name is Fabius, and I'm your next examiner. First group," he pointed a finger at the first two people in front of him. "Come with me inside this shack. Bring the lynx. This won't take long."

They entered the shack. Only five minutes passed before they all came out, looking not the least bit worried. Vera got a slightly uneasy feeling when she noticed that their lynx was nowhere in sight.

"Alright then," said Fabius. "You may go," he said. The two examinees smirked and walked past him and into the canyon. He watched them go shortly before calling in the other two groups, all of which came out looking relieved, following the others into the gorge.

"You two; get in here, it's your turn." Vera glanced briefly at Ging, whose nose was twitching slightly, a suspicious expression on his face, before she held their lynx more securely to her chest. It yawned widely, closing its eyes.

When the two followed Fabius into the shack, he took his seat on a single chair in the middle of the room. He smiled slightly at the purring cat in Vera's arms.

"You seem to have pacified it somehow; the others were quite relieved to be rid of theirs," Vera's lips tightened, and she noticed Ging tense up slightly beside her.

"Just tell us what the next Phase is." he said, pinning Fabius with a stare. The man just stared back, unphased. He sighed heavily.

"Alright then. That cat?" he nodded at the lynx before reaching behind his back to pull out a knife. "Kill it."

Vera immediately held the lynx away from Fabius, a thunderous expression on her face. Ging flinched back in shock.

"Why… why would you ask us to do such a terrible thing?!" shouted Vera. Ging's jaw tightened.

"I knew something smelled off… The pipe smoke threw me off a little, but I could smell blood ever since we got here!" he said. He looked close to blowing a gasket. Fabius raised an eyebrow.

"You… refuse?" Both children nodded firmly. "But you'll fail if you do…" The children stood their ground.

"Could we maybe find some other way to pass this phase? I don't want to pass like this," stated Ging. Fabius gave him an incredulous look.

"You refuse to kill this animal, but you want to find some other way to pass?" Ging nodded, and Vera, considering this, just went with it. Fabius fixed them both with a hard stare before…

He burst out into raucous laughter. Vera and Ging jumped in surprise, making the lynx in Vera's arms swipe at her in annoyance. Wiping tears from his eyes, Fabius grinned at them.

"Whooo… you really got me there!" he said, eyes shining with mirth. "I guess we've got two new Hunters to add to our list!"

"What?!" shouted Ging. "But you said-"

"I know what I said," chuckled Fabius. "I was _bluffing,_ little boy."

"But…" started Vera. "Why did we pass?"

"You should very well know," said Fabius, pointing at the lynx in her arms. "That those cats are extremely endangered. Hunters are supposed to protect things like that, y'know? And also," he paused for a moment. "Hunters aren't really supposed to follow orders from anyone else. They walk their own path. Thus, you two rookies have just passed the Exam!"

 **A/N: ...Hi. My update schedule isn't really a... schedule, per say, no matter how hard I try to change that... ANYWAY. On another subject. Another review! Yay! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing people like my writing. Hopefully I'll get off my ass soon and start writing again. Also, I have a feeling that the Exam may have been too rushed or too 'easy,' and I am fully aware that in canon HxH, Ging is the only applicant to pass his exam. But this is fanfiction. I can do what I want~**

 **Also, like I mentioned in the previous chapter, I wanted to get the Exam out of the way so I can get to the good stuff. Like Nen abilities~ Any guesses on what Vera's Nen type might be? I'll give you a hint: She's not a Specialist.**


	5. Chapter 4

One Vera Ulyss, at twelve years old and one of only two candidates to pass the 267th Hunter Exam, stared down in disbelief at the card in her hand. Her official Hunter's License. She had done it. She had climbed the mountain and come out on top. She had passed her Trial, and would now be officially recognized as a warrior by her family.

"Hey!" Vera looked up to see Ging, the other candidate to pass the Exam, grinning at her. "Congrats on becoming a Hunter! What are you gonna do now?" Vera fidgeted uncomfortably, but decided to answer the question.

"Probably go back home…" she said uncertainly.

"And after that?"

"I… don't really know…" Vera admitted, chewing her lip. Ging tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean you 'don't know'?"

"Well… to be honest I didn't really take the exam to become a Hunter, I just took it because it was my chosen Trial to be truly recognized by my clan…" she trailed off for a moment. "But now I'm not so sure… I've always felt a duty toward my family, but what do _I_ want?"

Ging stared at her a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. He placed a hand on Vera's shoulder, a small smile on his face.

"Sometimes you've just gotta think about yourself. You'll wear yourself out trying to please others all the time. And besides," he said, smile widening. "There's a whole world out there, and you're a _Hunter_ now; you could go almost anywhere, anytime! There are so many adventures just waiting to be had! So get out there and start experiencing all those things and then decide what you want in life." Vera blinked at the boy.

"That was… actually kind of deep…" she said in slight disbelief. Ging tilted his head again.

"Really? Sometimes that just kind of happens and I have no idea why…" he muttered.

Vera couldn't stop the laughter bubbling in her chest from that single sentence. Ging turned away from her, grumbling in embarrassment.

When Vera returned to her family, Hunter's License clutched proudly in her hand, it was to joyful tears from her mother and a bone-crushing hug from her father, as well as dozens of happy kisses all over her cheeks from the rest of her relatives, including some of her younger cousins, who managed to drool all over her face. The celebration afterward was one to remember; she was an officially recognized warrior, after all. However, a few hours after the festivities had died down and most of everyone had gone to bed, Atlas pulled his daughter aside.

Cupping her cheek, Atlas gave Vera a soft smile.

"You cannot imagine how proud you've made me and your mother, Vera," he said. "However, there is still one more thing you must learn." Vera gave her father an expectant look. Atlas sighed.

"There are many strange and mysterious things in the world, but quite possibly the strangest and most mysterious is the ability to use Nen, one's own aura."

"Nen?" Vera whispered, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She hadn't ever heard about 'Nen' or 'aura'... It sounded more like it came from a comic book or video game than anything else.

"Yes. It is an incredible power when mastered, but in the wrong hands, it can also be a deadly weapon. It is also the last thing that I can teach you before you leave us." Vera's eyes widened.

"How did you know-"

"I saw a curious, far-off look in your eye. You now know that there is more to the world than what is in any of your books and maps, and you want to discover for yourself what that is. And even if it pains me to say this, I will not stop you from leaving. The only thing I can do is prepare you for the hardships you may come across," Atlas stared into his daughter's eyes before standing up straight. "I myself once felt the call of that flighty temptress 'adventure'..."

"Training starts tomorrow at the crack of dawn; don't be late." Vera's face broke into a wide grin.

"Yes, sir!"

Once Vera finally managed to open up her Nen nodes after a long month of meditation and breathing exercises, she compared the feeling to taking a first breath after being underwater for a very, very long time. She felt more… alive. Empowered.

Next was mastering Ten, restricting the flow of her Nen from her body, which was easy enough; she imagined a layer of thin clothing or armor around her body. Zetsu, withdrawing her aura into herself, also came surprisingly easily, as she had spent most of her free time stalking animals and masking her presence as to not accidentally scare them off. After Zetsu was Ren, creating an especially powerful burst of Nen, which Vera had difficulty with at first. Her father explained that Nen was very often linked to emotion and personality, and that since Vera was usually quite withdrawn and shy, her Nen would be as well. However, with some more training and Vera's stubborn determination, she managed to master it as well as she had the other techniques. As for the last of the Four Principles, Atlas told Vera that her Hatsu was something that she had to develop on her own after they determined her Nen type through the Water Divination Technique.

"Just place your hands around the glass, like this, and use Ren," explained Atlas. The glass sitting between his hands was filled to the brim with water, and a single leaf floated on the surface. The water suddenly swelled and spilled over the rim of the glass, making Vera jump in surprise. "The quantity of water increased, meaning that I'm an Enhancer, which means I can strengthen either myself or other objects. Now you try."

Vera placed her hands close to the glass and concentrated on making her aura flare up around them. Nearly fifteen seconds passed before faint shimmers, like dust, appeared in the water, making Atlas grin. Vera stopped to examine the shimmering in the water.

"What does that mean? Was that dust there before?" Atlas just shook his head.

"No; it means you're a Conjurer. You have the ability to create things from your aura. However, anything you make wouldn't be as good as the real thing without any conditions or limitations." Vera's nose wrinkled.

"That doesn't sound very exciting…" Atlas poked the middle of Vera's forehead.

"Don't underestimate your own affinity. With Conjuring, there are a number of abilities and limitations that you can give anything that you make, which will increase the power or effectiveness of that object. Make do with what you were given; I know you'll come up with something incredible."

That night, Vera sat cross-legged on top of her comforter, eyes closed as she contemplated what sort of thing she could conjure.

 _I could conjure a staff, so I wouldn't have to carry one around,_ She thought, opening her eyes and staring out into the starry sky above. The moon shone bright overhead, casting its silvery rays upon her form. _But then what else could I use?_

A pale moth fluttered in through the open window to land on the sill, serenely opening and closing its wings as its fluffy antennae waved curiously in the air. Vera stared at it for a moment, before it suddenly clicked. With a small smile on her face, she climbed under the covers and drifted off to sleep. A packed bag sat alone next to the door.

Vera would leave home early the next morning.

 **A/N: So there you have it; now the real fun begins. Let me just warn you now: it'll get weird and crazy** ** _fast._** **This** ** _is_** **supposed to be humorous, after all. The friend I'm writing this with (you know who you are) has some insane ideas and a somewhat unhealthy obsession with dinosaurs. And talking tortoises. And fire-breathing chickens. Ummm... Spoilers? However, I am thinking about how I'll incorporate some more serious and darker themes for certain arcs to even out the craziness, and once we get into more canon territory, it'll get more AU-ish, since Vera** ** _will_** **have a role to play in some future events. Also, we got another review! Yay! It's so reassuring that people actually want more of this! Anyway, goodbye for now!**


	6. Chapter 5

_~Around three years later~_

Now fifteen years of age, Vera hiked through the woods to where a small town sat nestled in the trees. Rolling up her map and placing it carefully back inside her bag, she looked around at the little wooden houses, taking care to step out of the way of a few children riding bicycles on the dirt road. Digging around in her shorts pocket, she pulled out a newspaper clipping.

' _Residents have been complaining about a strange type of creature burrowing in their gardens and invading their homes. These animals have caused severe damage to property and some residents have even suffered moderate injury.'_ She read. Folding up the clipping, she hoisted the pack more securely on her shoulder. _When it comes to wildlife, I'm your girl. Time to get to the bottom of this._

Vera hitched her pack higher on her shoulders as she strolled through the small town, only stopping once to ask for directions to the village Elder's home. She stopped in front of the squat little cottage that the heavily pregnant woman had pointed her to, hearing shuffling coming from inside, as well as a few muttered swearwords here and there. Eyebrows drawn together, Vera knocked on the door. The swearing stopped, and footsteps approached the door before it swung open to show an thin, red-faced man.

The man, whom Vera assumed to be the village Elder, as he was quite old, looked slightly disheveled, the few wisps of silver hair on his head thoroughly made up for by a large bushy beard and mustache. She couldn't help but notice the way he wielded the poker in his hand like a sword.

"What is it? It had better be urgent; one of those infernal things has managed to burrow its way into my cellar," he said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"I assume that you are the village Elder, and thus primary authority figure in this village?" Vera asked politely, taking in the old man's button-up shirt, khaki shorts and fluffy bunny slippers. The man nodded, straightening up slightly.

As a result of all those years of etiquette lessons _(Any respectable member of Clan Ulyss should learn how to act in the proper fashion!)_ , Vera bowed to the Elder.

"My name is Vera Ulyss, a Beast Hunter, and I've recently heard about your current issues with a population of an unknown species."

Upon hearing the reason that Vera had come, Elder Grumman's mood had improved quite a bit and he ushered her inside his home eagerly. Propping the poker up against the wall, he began to prepare a pot of tea.

"You have no idea what these things have put me through so far; first it was only a few, rather minor cases. Digging in the garbage, and the like. Then, they started to make their way into people's homes, you see. Nearly everyone has had at least one try to get into their pantry or is living in the compost heap. And the thing is, is that no one has ever seen these things before, so they come to me, since I am the Elder, and I am supposed to be the one who knows everything. But I don't!" Elder Grumman ended on a slightly hysterical note.

Taking the clay cup that was handed to her, Vera nodded in understanding before speaking in a soft, calming tone.

"Before I begin investigating, could you tell me when these creatures started to appear? Did anything unusual happen before then?" Elder Grummans stroked his bushy beard in contemplation.

"Not anything that I can really think of… the only thing out of the ordinary was this troupe of young'uns that showed up a few weeks ago," he said. Vera leaned forward in her seat after taking a sip of her tea.

"Do you not get many outsiders?" the Elder shook his head.

"Not much for people to come here for. Like I said, this is just a little hole in the wall."

Vera stared down into the contents of her cup with a pensive expression. _Maybe the 'outsiders' that the Elder is talking about have to do with these creatures burrowing into people's homes… But before I get to that, I'll have to get a good look at just what these things are._

"Could I have a look at one of these animals, by any chance? Do you have any captive, or…" At Vera's words, Grummans nodded, standing up and fetching his trusty poker once more.

"Sure thing; the one down in the cellar earlier should still be there." And with that, the old man strode over to a door, fumbled with the keys for a short moment, and opened the door, leading the way down the steps. There wasn't much inside; just a few boxes, a shelf with a multitude of canned food (Vera guessed it was for emergencies) and an old couch with the stuffing poking out of its squashy cushions.

Faint scratching could be heard from behind the couch, and Grummans held up the poker again in a defensive stance. Vera made a gesture for him to stay back and approached the noise cautiously, trying to act as unthreatening as possible. The scratching stopped, and small snuffling noises could be heard instead. She couldn't get a proper look at it behind the couch, so she placed a hand upon its surface, and, in one abrupt movement, dragged it away from the wall.

To Vera's surprise, the creature did not dart away as soon as the light hit it, but instead stayed put, hissing and spitting in her direction, not unlike a cat. Although it couldn't be further away from being one. The mystery creature had flat, granite grey scales that covered what seemed to be most of its body, and it had a long snout with many small, sharp teeth. But what really intrigued Vera was that it had three eyes in total. Two of them were relatively normal, black and beady (rather like a mouse, now that she came to think of it), but the third was less pronounced and didn't move at all, which led her to believe that it was a simple eye, possibly only able to process changes in light or movement.

The teen did not approach the creature, nor did she try to reach out and touch it. Instead, she lowered herself into a crouch and merely watched it. _Poor thing,_ She thought, watching as it puffed itself out to make itself look bigger. _It must be terrified._ Glancing around the room, she quickly found where it had come in; there was a hole in the top corner of the room. It must have been digging through the ground and fallen through on accident, with no way out. Vera took in its large front claws that curved slightly outward. _Subterranean dwelling, more like. So then why does it need a simple eye?_

Meanwhile, Elder Grummans was standing by the stairs, watching as this stranger did nothing to take care of the animal that had invaded his home.

"Well?" he asked, lowering his poker slightly. "Aren't you going to, y'know, finish it off?" He watched as the girl (for she was quite young - she only looked around fourteen or fifteen) merely smiled.

"There's no need; I think I could use it to track down the original dwelling place of… whatever these things are." the Elder looked confused.

"How would you do that?" Vera just answered with another question.

"Tell me, how many of these creatures at a time have been breaking into people's houses? What sorts of patterns have you noticed?" she asked, her soft smile still present. Elder Grummans just furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"Just… one at a time, in each house. Or at least, that was how it was at first… Then they started revisiting the houses, taking a bit of their food stores with them…" something seemed to click in his brain. "They're behaving just like ants!"

"Yep. This guy's been leaving a trail of pheromones from those glands on his legs. If we take him outside and leave a bit of bait, then he'll travel back to the colony, as I am almost positive that this is a sort of scout. Granted, we shouldn't leave so much that we'll have a hundred of these things traipsing to and from your house; just a few will do." Grummans just stared at her incredulously.

"How on earth did you figure that out? And how do you know if just leaving it outside will work? I thought they were burrowing creatures, like moles." he said, as the animal in the corner steadily calmed down, scales flattening as it realized that the two humans in the room weren't threatening him. Vera turned to look at him.

"Well, before I came here I asked around about these creatures; they all told me what you just did, and I deduced that they must live in some kind of colony, with scouts and drones and a queen or breeding alpha. Also, these creatures don't travel underground all the time; their back legs would be shorter and they wouldn't have any need for the simple eye on their forehead, nor fully functional eyes, for that matter. From that I deduced that they didn't travel primarily underground; they just lived in burrows."

Elder Grummans had made up his mind. _She knows her stuff, alright._

 **A/N: Oh look it's another chapter. And now starts what I've decided to call the 'Tomb Arc'. Let's do thisss. Also, I would like to point out that the creatures I've described do not have a name yet, and I've no idea what to call them. But when I was thinking them up I was kind of envisioning a sort of pangolin-like creature. With very sharp teeth. And a third 'simple' eye. That behave like ants. If you don't know what a pangolin is, look it up. They're super cute. Also, I changed the title to 'Promise of the World' because I thought it might fit better with the themes I'll be using later.**


	7. Chapter 6

The creature had been trapped, the bait was set a distance away, and now, Vera withdrew her Nen into herself, completely erasing her presence, and opened the cage. The creature, who was facing away from her, had no idea of her presence as it's snout twitched, catching the scent of the bait, and scurried off in its direction.

Vera watched as the creature carefully picked up the scraps of food in its mouth, and started to hurry off into the forest. The girl followed it silently, staying out of sight of any of its eyes, since Zetsu was restricted to just your presence, and not your appearance. Even the simple eye, which could see her movement should she reveal herself.

Soon, Vera could hear the mutterings of voices in the distance, getting closer. Suddenly, the trees opened up into a small clearing, and the creature skittered around the edge of the brush, away from the small campsite that had been made in the middle. Vera crouched down in the brush and kept her eyes on the creature as it disappeared into the entrance of what looked like a tunnel, large enough that a human could pass through. A couple of the people around the campfire started at the movement, and one with large glasses cursed loudly.

"It's another one of those things again! I swear, I am so sick of them giving us trouble while we try to excavate the tomb; we've already scared the little ones out of the surrounding area, but they just keep coming back to this spot!"

"And don't forget all those holes we keep tripping in. I nearly broke my ankle when I stepped in one of those." added his friend, a rather boyish individual with curly blonde hair. Vera watched as they sat in silence for a few seconds more, before the blonde spoke up.

"I wonder when Freecss and the others are gonna be back… it's been a while…" the one with glasses waved him off. _Freecss?_ Thought Vera. _Sounds familiar..._

"They'll be fine; the kid's a Hunter. Those big dumb animals aren't any match for him, mark my words. I'm just relieved that I didn't have to face those things again. The little ones are alright; they just scurry around, and they don't even bite unless provoked. But the big ones that live down there," the young bespectacled man gave a little shiver. "Those ones are downright terrifying."

Having heard enough, Vera decided to announce her presence by standing up and clearing her throat loudly. Both men jumped and whirled quickly around to face her.

"What exactly are you doing here?" asked Vera, looking around at the makeshift campsite, eyes landing briefly on the entrance of what she guessed was the tomb that the two men had mentioned.

"Um, who are you, exactly?" asked the one with glasses, completely ignoring her question. His refusal to show her any respect made Vera's eye twitch. But she answered him anyway. Because she was the one with _manners_.

"My name is Vera Ulyss; I am a Beast Hunter, and-"

"A Hunter, eh? Well we've already got one of those and this is our spot, so you can scram now." One-With-Glasses interrupted. The blonde looked a little insecure, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder while shaking his head. Vera's eye twitched again. Her usually calm expression was starting to harden at the young bespectacled man's impertinence. Once more, she attempted to speak.

"I am just here to-"

"I thought I told you that you could go away now; we don't-"

" _I AM HERE,_ " Vera cut him off loudly before lowering her voice back down to normal. "To find out just why the nearby village has been experiencing raids to their homes by the creatures that seem to come from around this 'tomb', as you call it. They have been damaging property and even given some minor injuries to those who try to get rid of them by force. I am not here to steal credit for your… excavation." she said curtly, stepping closer. The two men (although they could hardly be considered men in her opinion; they looked no older than twenty-three) had to look down at her (as she stood at but a mere 160 centimeters), but in her now intimidating presence, they seemed to have been cowed into silence.

The blonde was the first to speak up.

"So sorry for our rudeness, Ms Ulyss; My name is Harin, and this is Kiero. We've had a long day, and Kiero doesn't have much of a filter when he's tired. We're just watching over the camp until our companions get back from mapping out the tomb's interior." the one with glasses, Kiero, tugged on Harin's sleeve.

"Don't tell her about our secret plans!" he hissed, looking at Vera with suspicious eyes. Vera sighed, and was about to ask Harin about the creatures in the tunnels before the sound of footsteps echoing out of the tomb's entrance alerted the three to the others' return.

All of the newcomers were roughed up in some way or fashion. The first, a large man with a five o'clock shadow with a bushy mustache and dark brown hair that looked like it had once been combed neatly, but was now all ruffled, stepped out first, several scrapes and cuts showing through holes torn through his clothes. The second, a lithe redhead, had one of the sleeves on his shirt torn off, and a nasty scratch could be seen on his shoulder. It looked a little green around the edges. The third, a muscular brunet. He had a shiny black eye, and his lip was split. Vera's eyebrows drew together as she remembered Kiero and Harin talking about 'the big ones'. Just how big were they?

Three of these new faces were bruised or beaten in some way, shape, or form. However, a fourth person emerged from the tunnel, and what set him apart from the others was that he seemed to be completely unharmed. _He looks kind of familiar, too…_ Vera thought, giving him a once-over. He had spiky black hair that poked out of the turban/cap he had on and golden-brown eyes that drooped slightly at the edges. He was easily the youngest out of this troupe of men, looking only around sixteen years old. However, the strangest thing was that his Nen was obviously not still locked; it was cultivated into Ten, just like Vera's. _He must be the Hunter that Kiero was talking about._

The boy's eyes immediately flicked over to Vera, and an eyebrow rose in mild confusion.

"Oi oi, who are you?" he asked, hands in his pockets. All eyes fell on Vera, who felt a twinge of anxiety. She took a breath before answering.

"My name is Vera Ulyss, Beast Hunter, and I am here because of the creatures that have been terrorizing the nearby village." The boy scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Vera like the plant?" the girl's lips tightened slightly in annoyance.

"Yes, and I have tracked the residence of these animals to this spot in particular, where I find you and your company."

"And just who do you think you are to waltz in here, claiming to be a Hunter and tracking us down to this spot? This tomb has never been excavated since it's been built, nor has the treasure and body we're here to search for been found yet! You could just want to tag along and steal some of the credit for discovery!" accused the man with the black eye. The redhead just sighed, sitting down heavily and allowing Harin to fuss over the laceration on his shoulder. The black haired boy just smirked a little.

"Calm down, Bo; she seems sincere enough," the boy said. Bo just grumbled and made his way over to his other companions and sat down beside the man with the mustache. The boy turned back to Vera.

"Don't mind him. He's just a bit tense after what happened down in the tunnels. You said you were a Hunter and you were tracking the creatures around here," it was more of a statement than a question. "How do I know that you're telling the truth?"

Vera sighed.

"I do not make it a point to lie, and if you would like to see my license I do have it with me. Now, may I kindly ask for your name?" she asked. The boy looked kind of confused.

"Eh? What's with the formal speak? You sound like some kind of princess or something…"

"If you would tell me your name, please do so."

"Oh, right. It's Ging, Ging Freecss. I'm a Hunter, too."

Vera felt her memory shift, and the vague images of spiky hair, golden brown eyes, and a much younger face appeared in her head.

" _The name's Ging Freecss." Vera straightened from her bow, peering through her bangs at his hand._

" _Vera Ulyss…" she muttered, shaking the boy's outstretched hand._

"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed, making this older Ging flinch in surprise. Vera cleared her throat, trying not to let her embarrassment show. "We have met before." she explained. Ging tilted his head.

"Eh?" he looked a little worried now, but Vera couldn't quite understand why.

"During the Hunter Exam; we both passed." she said. Ging seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, before really taking a look at her.

"That… was you? But you're not…" he gestured in her general direction.

"Not…?"

"Y'know, you're not… uh…" he seemed to struggle to find the right words. "Shy! You aren't that shy anymore! The few things I can actually remember from the Exam was that girl who always had her hair in front of her face; I guess that's why I didn't recognize you right away." Vera smiled slightly.

"Well in that case, let us get back to the creatures you have encountered in the tomb. I need a full description, just to be sure that we are speaking of the same beast."

Ging still looked a little weirded out by her *extremely* formal way of speaking and gestured behind him for her to take a seat at the presently extinguished campfire.

 **A/N: Ging's an awkward boi. And Vera's a bit uptight. Am I wrong? Also: coming up with character names was an adventure. Let us just all agree that the vast majority of names in HxH are weird as hell. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far; it feels great to see that people are enjoying my writing. Gives me the warm fuzzies~ Have a good day/night and happy Halloween!**


	8. Chapter 7

Ging, Vera concluded, hadn't changed very much from when she had first met him, the only difference being that he seemed to have become more subtle with his emotions, but would have seemingly random outbursts, whether in joy or otherwise. From what she could remember, he used to be quite excitable most of the time, but was now more calm when everything was going his way. However, one thing that Vera noticed was that he was very shy. Almost painfully so, which was why, she mused, he would get defensive at the slightest thing in his further conversations with her; a difference only seen when Vera witnessed him speaking with his peers.

The black haired boy, when asked about what he was doing, explained that he had read about this tomb that no one was allowed to go into, that it was part of some royal family, and that he had put together a small, non-profit organization to go in and excavate, perhaps even make plans to restore it someday so that future generations could see it. It was then that he asked Vera how she had managed to get onto the land (which was as forbidden as the tomb), who merely replied that she had travelled to the village in the forest a short ways away and showed her Hunter License to the guards at the edge of the border before she devised her plan to follow the scaled creature inside, just to be safe.

At that, Ging had turned an embarrassed shade of red and smacked a palm to his face. He hadn't known that all he needed to do was show his Hunter License to those stuck-up dudes guarding the perimeter to get in.

"Well, we're all here now and we're in anyway… no sense dwelling on the past… even if you could've, should've, _would've_ made things simpler…" he muttered to himself. Vera had a worried expression on her face.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine! Are you blind? I'm perfectly, absolutely, positively, okay." defended Ging, who crossed his arms as his red face sank into the scarf looped around his neck. Vera sighed, deciding to change the subject.

"So, now that we have determined that the creatures we have both been running into are, indeed the same species, I have come to a conclusion about why they have been invading the villagers' homes."

"Eh? And what's that, Princess?" Ging asked, pulling the scarf away from his face. Vera took a calming breath; the nickname that Ging had bestowed upon her had been inspired by her tendency to speak formally, which had become something of a habit over the years, now that she was to represent Clan Ulyss. She was no longer a child. That was determined the moment she had cleared her Trial.

"It means," she said, her words becoming a bit more harsh. "That you and your companions have disturbed the scaled creatures' nest, forced them out of their natural home and hunting grounds, and now they have resorted to scavenging farther away than they were supposed to and thus have ended up raiding the village for food."

Ging looked affronted.

"Did you- did you just accuse me for the entirety of that village's problems?!"

"I apologize for misunderstanding; I seem to have been under the impression that you were rather intelligent. Shall I speak more slowly so that you may comprehend?" replied Vera coldly. She was very aware that she was being extremely rude, but to be honest, this boy, with all of his spontaneity and blatant ignorance toward the plight of others outside of his present company had been grating on her nerves since the very beginning. She remembered during the Hunter Exam that they had gotten along quite well, and she had even admired him for his supposedly fearless disposition. She had now taken back her earlier thought that he hadn't changed much at all; now he seemed to have turned into an insensitive and selfish, dare she say it, prick.

Meanwhile, Ging seemed to swell with anger, and he opened his mouth to give a loud retort, as he shoved his finger right in front of her face. As quick as the strike of a snake, Vera grabbed that finger and bent it back at an odd angle, though not enough to break it.

"Alright, kids, that's enough!" The large man with the bushy mustache had strode over to where they had been arguing, and effectively prevented their fight from getting physical when he reached one hand over to each of them and lifted the two teenagers up by the backs of their shirts with strength that Vera didn't think he possessed. He deposited the two a little ways away from each other. Ging just crossed his arms and turned his nose up childishly. Vera merely stared coldly at him. The large man with the bushy mustache huffed.

"Now how the hell did a business discussion almost turn into a full blown scuffle?" Ging was first to speak up.

"She just blamed me for the whole issue going on at that nearby village!" he accused, pointing at her again now that he was out of her reach.

"He was completely denying that he has forced these creatures out of their natural habitat, causing them to resort to raiding said village!"

"Alright, alright, I've heard enough! Now," said the large man, who smiled genially. "I think after all of us have calmed down and gotten some food in our bellies, we may discuss this in a more civilized manner, hm? After all, Mr. Freecss here has just gotten back from an altercation with some of those ferocious beasts down in the tomb, and he gets rather cranky when he's hungry."

"Oh, come on, Okkoto, you don't have to treat me like some kid!"

"If you hadn't noticed, you are only sixteen; still a child in my eyes. And it doesn't help that you act like you're half your age most of the time." smiled Okkoto. Ging merely huffed and shoved his hands in his pockets. Vera overheard him grumble something extremely rude, but decided to ignore it in favor of instead turning to greet Okkoto.

Vera bowed in front of the older man.

"I apologize for my less than polite behavior. My name is Vera Ulyss, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Okkoto." Okkoto chuckled good-naturedly.

"My my, how polite! But I suppose that is to be expected from one from Clan Ulyss, a noble and honorable family. If you don't mind my dear, let us join the others by the fire? As you can see, all of us are quite famished after our excursion down into the tomb." Vera nodded and smiled. Ging had already made his way back to the campfire, now lit with a pot that hung from a few propped up sticks, and was now slouched against a rotted tree stump.

As Vera sat down on the ground, her legs tucked underneath her body neatly, she allowed herself to glance around at the company. The oldest was clearly Okkoto, who looked like he was well into his forties. The rest looked around twenty at the youngest (excluding Ging). The redhead, whose name was the only one she hadn't gotten, introduced himself as Maccus, and had dug enthusiastically into his stew as soon as he had gotten his bowl, not paying any further attention to the conversation once it had turned back to business.

Bo, the burly brunet, still gave Vera suspicious looks, but seemed to have let go of his earlier misgivings about her. After all, she was only fifteen (even if she was a Hunter), and seemed quite sincere when she voiced her concerns to the group. Vera gathered that Bo thought highly of his ability to tell if people were untrustworthy.

Harin and Kiero seemed to have warmed up quite a bit to Vera, and made efforts to listen (Harin kept having to cover Kiero's mouth to keep him from interrupting).

Ging, on the other hand, was still sulking on the outskirts of the campfire, even if he did look a great deal more relaxed once he had eaten. Vera turned to look over at him, and the boy turned up his nose stubbornly. She huffed in annoyance.

"Really, you are being quite childish; you could come and help us devise a solution to this problem, you know." At this, Ging mumbled something unintelligible into his scarf.

"What was that?"

"I _said,_ " announced Ging, his eyes fixed on a small moth fluttering toward the fire. "That it doesn't sound like much fun to me; I don't have time for these little… _detours._ " Vera's eyes narrowed.

"Detours?"

"Detours, distractions; All I want is to find that treasure that that book was all about, and I can't have anything get in my way and slow me down," said Ging. He took his hat off and glanced at the now darkened sky. Vera and the others had been speaking for quite a while now. "Now if you'll excuse me, we're going back down tomorrow, so I'm going to bed."

"How narrow-minded of you." Vera said to him, frowning. Ging's jaw twitched, but he only lay down where he had sat, his back to them all. Maccus gave a low whistle.

"Man, he's pretty worked up… Must be the fact that we haven't had any company of the female variety lately…" Harin shook his head.

"It's not just that," the blonde turned to Vera, a small smile on his face. "I haven't known Ging for all that long, but I have picked up enough to know that he just gets like that when he's embarrassed." Vera now felt kind of bad as she looked back at Ging's curled up form on the ground. He was obviously pretending to be asleep, and only the small ripples in his Ten indicated that he was still awake. The girl looked down at the ground. She felt guilty now. Kiero put a hand on her shoulder, a crooked smile on his bespectacled face. His glasses had magnified his eyes to at least twice their usual size.

"Hey, don't feel bad; you've just called out a mistake he's made, and now he's just beating himself up over it-"

"Kiero, please don't try to make her feel worse than she already does," said Okkoto. He turned to Vera. "However, in Mr. Freecss' defense, as he is this group's unofficial leader, he has been going down into the tunnels with us and trying to protect us from the creatures down in them as we map them out. Every scrape or cut or bruise is one he feels he could have prevented. But there is no way you could have known. Just keep in mind, that even if he would hate to admit it, the boy is actually quite sensitive." Okkoto explained quietly. Vera looked down at her hands.

"I… would like to apologize in the morning…" she said. Okkoto smiled, his bushy mustache twitching.

"I believe that would be a good idea."

"And," Vera said, looking back up into Okkoto's pale blue eyes. "I would like to accompany you down into the tomb as well; seeing as you all have been getting injured, perhaps you could use a bit more protection?" The older man nodded.

"That sounds like an excellent idea. The tunnels do not allow for very much space to move, which is why Ging hasn't been able to prevent some of our injuries... But we'll have to discuss it with the others tomorrow." he said, looking around at Maccus, Harin, Bo, and Kiero, who were now in the process of tucking themselves into their sleeping bags. Ging didn't appear to own one, and seemed quite comfortable doing without. Vera nodded and lay down where she had sat as Okkoto kicked dirt onto the fire, extinguishing it and leaving the group in darkness.

 **A/N: Ahahahaha I feel like such a terrible person... Merry Christmas? Not so sure how I feel about this chapter, but it sure was fun writing Ging and Vera's arguments and such. They're both such stubborn characters, but that seems to be the only thing they have in common. Vera raised as kind of a no-nonsense highborn and Ging being... well... himself. Of course they would have completely different personalities. And as for Ging's current 'no distractions, no detours' comment... I've taken it upon myself to make that a sort of character development thing, since at least by the time he starts creating Greed Island, he's already got that 'enjoy the ride' mentality. Vera will also be getting some character development, since she's quite obviously an extremely uptight person and all that. Girl needs to relax.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I also hope my naming skills are on point because coming up with names for characters who probably aren't going to appear very much later on will always be my foil.**


	9. Chapter 8

Vera awoke early the next morning, curled up in a soft patch of dirt, only a few meters away from where the others, 'Ging's Company' as she called them in her head, were still happily snoring away. The boy himself was currently lying by the same stump he had been the night prior, only he had somehow shifted to lay on his back and now let out occasional snorts in his sleep. If Vera hadn't been so cross with him the day before, she might have called him cute.

As if he had sensed her staring at him, Ging suddenly shifted and groaned as he stretched his arms above his head. He looked rather like a cat when he did that. Vera watched him sit up, scratch at his scalp beneath his spiky mess of dark hair, and open his eyes blearily to finally land on her. His expression immediately soured.

"...Oh. You're still here." he said, reaching for his strange turban-like cap and affixing it to his head. A few strands still managed to escape it's confines.

"I am. And I wanted to say that I apologize for my actions yesterday and that I would like to start over." said Vera. Ging brought a hand to his chin and made like he was thinking over her apology, stroking a non-existent beard.

"I… guess I can accept that. Truce?" he asked, holding out his hand. Vera gave him a smile.

"Truce." Ging yawned widely, letting go of Vera's hand to rub at his eye, observing the others still fast asleep. He looked back at the girl standing beside him. Neither of them knew quite what to do now, and the silence between them got awkward fast. So of course it was sort of a blessing when Kiero managed to wake himself up with a particularly loud snort.

The rest of the company steadily woke up one by one afterwards, and started to gather up supplies for their latest expedition into the tomb. Bo extracted a few pens from a pouch at his side and slung a map case shaped like a tube over his bulky shoulder while Maccus slipped a camera into his satchel. Harin and Kiero would stay above ground again. (Ging had explained to Vera that both of them were studying architecture at university, but they had refused to go underground quite yet as their physical capabilities weren't the best in the world. Besides, at least someone needed to watch over the camp while the others were gone.) Vera stood next to Okkoto, who sat serenely on a nearby log, and tried to guess the roles of everyone in the group.

Obviously, Harin and Kiero were aspiring architects. Bo seemed to be a cartographer, Maccus the photographer, but there was just one thing she was missing.

"Okkoto, what exactly do you do?" asked Vera. The man's mustache twitched as he smiled.

"I happen to be an archaeologist, dear girl, and when Ging here sent out the call for an expedition group, I decided that I could use one last adventure before I retire." Vera nodded. She could respect that.

The girl took a deep breath and approached Ging, who rummaged around in his pack for something that Vera couldn't see. He glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

"...Do you need something?" he asked hesitantly.

"I need to know the plan for what we are doing today."

"What? Why?"

"Because I will be coming with you." Ging made a noise that was halfway between a groan and a whine under his breath.

"Are you really? I thought you were helping out the village and we'd only run into each other every once in a while, so toddle on back over there and kindly get out of my hair." he said exasperatedly. Vera set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. Vaguely, she wondered what happened to the truce they had promised just minutes before. Ging merely blinked at her.

"What did you not get out of 'You are disturbing these creatures' habitat and encouraging them to raid the nearby village' do you not understand?" Vera sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look, if you really are determined to find this treasure, then I will be perfectly willing to help you find it, if only to have you out of here faster." Ging just kept a skeptical look on his face before a small smile spread across his face.

"You really are something. Why couldn't you just have said that right off the bat? I would've said yes if you did, no need to beat around the bush. Or were you under the impression that I was rather intelligent?" he said, referring to her insult the previous day. Vera couldn't hold back the small chuckle that escaped her and Ging looked a little smug as he finally pulled a flashlight out of his pack, flicking it on and off again to see if it still worked.

"So, the plan?" Vera prodded. Ging stood up and shouldered his pack, directing his gaze toward the entrance. He made a humming noise and rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly in deep thought.

"You… _do_ have a plan… right?" Ging stayed silent, now stroking the invisible beard. Vera had to resist the urge to smack her palm to her forehead. "This is a worse situation than I thought."

"Well, the thing is that we _did_ have a plan, but I didn't count on finding… whatever those things are down in the tunnels. And they just keep coming! The damn things are just like ants, it's crazy. So unless we take care of the queen or den mother or whatever, then we can't make any progress." He said, his eyebrows drawing together. Vera gave him an alarmed look.

"And what exactly does 'take care of' entail? Do you plan to kill an innocent animal just because it's in your way?" Ging tensed up slightly at her furious expression, but then grinned at her. Vera scowled.

"What?"

"You used a contraction." Vera blinked at his statement.

"...And?"

"All this time you've just been talking like some kind of uptight princess, but I guess it kind of slips when you get all riled up. Funnily enough, you weren't nearly as formal a few years ago… Either way, I feel so accomplished~" Ging chortled. Vera let out a titter.

"That's because now I have to represent my- I am not an uptight- you're avoiding my question!"

"Oh look, there she goes again- twice, even. O princess, what has't I done to maketh thee sinketh so base?" he chuckled a bit at his own joke before finally taking in Vera's thunderous expression. Ging cleared his throat.

"To answer your question and so that you'll not murder me anytime soon," at this, Vera muttered a _We'll see about that…_ under her breath. "The phrase 'take care of' didn't really _mean_ any killing, but if worse comes to worst…" he trailed off. Vera set her jaw and looked him dead in the eye. She saw his eyebrow twitch and his adam's apple bob as he gulped nervously.

"No killing. That is all that I ask, and I will lend you my aid. As far as I can see, none of your other company members can use Nen, am I right?" she asked. Ging nodded. "I have also noticed that the last time you came back from the tunnels, most of them were harmed in some way?" he nodded again. Vera's nerves were calming down again. "Then I suppose two Hunters would be better than one at keeping them all safe and relatively unharmed on our expedition."

Ging seemed to think this over, then looked Vera up and down.

"I already said that you could come with us. You didn't need to convince me any more. And on the point of 'no killing', I guess I can respect that. To a certain degree, at least. Do you have a way to… I dunno… subdue beasts without harming them?" At this, Vera gave him (in his opinion) a rather out-of-character secretive smile that made his face turn a little pink.

"Of course. I would not have said not to kill if I did not."

 **A/N: Ahahaha we meet again. I just love writing characters bickering, if you haven't noticed. And yes, the thing with 'You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest' that Ging tells Gon at the top of the World Tree** ** _is_** **going to be kind of a character development thing with him. So right now, he's all about the destination. But that will change eventually, as well as Vera learning how to get off her high horse and quit being** ** _quite_** **so uptight and bossy. I doubt anyone reads these, but it helps me organize my thoughts~**

 **ALSO IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT- I have something special planned for Valentine's Day, and it's probably not going to be anything like what any of you may be expecting. Seriously. There aren't** ** _really_** **spoilers for the story in it; just some things that will make sense later, just in case you see any details and are just like 'what?'**

 **Anyway, I apologize for this longass author's note. Until the next time I get up off of my lazy bum and write more chapters.**


	10. Valentine's Day Special!

He was thirteen the first time he had seen the Woman.

She had been relaxing against the trunk of a tree, eyes closed in a peaceful, meditative state. And yet, when he did there was something… different… about her. Like a tempest just waiting to be unleashed within her lithe, muscular body. Something that drew him to her.

Her eyes opened, looking straight at him. They were a light, shining grey. They rather looked like silver in the sunlight shining down from overhead. He could see it. The tempest. It was utterly captivating.

The Woman said nothing. She merely closed her eyes, and continued to meditate.

He bit his tongue as his heart constricted with excitement. He hadn't met many people like this before. He wondered what she would look like beaten to a bloody pulp. He wondered what it would feel like to have her at his mercy. He wondered a lot of things. So he approached, and asked for a fight, for her to not hold back an ounce.

He would always remember the shiver that went through him when his arm was twisted roughly, expertly, behind his back as her knee pressed down on his back and squeezed the air out of his lungs. His heart thumped at how, with just the smallest amount of pressure, the bone would snap right in two. It excited him to no end. His observations had not failed him; she was special. She was strong. _Very_ strong. The fight was over before it even began. Again, he wondered what it would be like to press _her_ into the ground, break her bones and hear her beg for mercy. Something told him that it wouldn't be that easy.

He was fifteen the next time he saw the Woman.

He had just acquired knowledge of the ability known as _Nen_. And, being a prodigy, had mastered it in an extremely short amount of time.

It was while he was aimlessly meandering through the streets of some city that he had caught a glimpse of her, completely by coincidence. Or was it fate to run into this extraordinary person _twice_ in his lifetime? Although he wasn't sure, now that he had discovered Nen, if she was _quite_ so extraordinary anymore, for she had known it all along. Nevertheless, he would still take great pleasure in pounding her into the dirt if she wasn't.

He was wrong.

Her silver gaze was sharp as she looked him straight in the eye, unwavering, as he lay on the ground, yet again. She had defeated him once more. And he didn't know if his pounding heart could take it. The fight had lasted just a bit longer, but the Woman was an agile thing. She had analyzed his attacks quickly, and danced around him, never wasting a movement, and striking at the opportune moment.

Even after she took her leave, he remained spread-eagle on his back, gazing up at the sky. A grin slowly spread across his face. To anyone else, it might have looked a bit demented, but he wouldn't have cared. All he could think about were those unwavering silver eyes, the owner's lithe body twisting through the air, and the sharp, unrelenting pain that coursed through him when she struck him down. It was exhilarating, like a drug.

He pressed a hand to his mouth to keep the giggles from leaking out, biting down hard on the knuckle of his index finger. Yes, he would be seeing her again.

Over the next few months or so, he had run into the Woman on several different occasions. Each time provoking a fight. Each time ending with his body slammed ruthlessly into the dirt. It only deepened his obsession, his drive to be able to bring her to her knees, to watch her crumble before him and beg for mercy. Just that thought alone brought him immeasurable pleasure.

It was almost a year after his last encounter with the Woman that he saw her again. However, something was different.

His mouth twisted down in a frown as he took in her peaceful form, sitting cross-legged against a tree. She looked rather like she did when he first saw her, the only differences being that she had dark tattoos spiralling down her arms and across her collarbone, and her belly was round and swollen. She was very pregnant. He couldn't fight her like that; something just felt wrong about it.

Briefly, he wondered who the father was. She didn't seem like the kind of person who would let just anyone impregnate her. Whoever he was, he had to be strong, too. Strong like her. He let her be that day, knowing that she had most likely sensed him spying on her from a distance.

He didn't see her again after that day. But it was around twelve years later that he ran into something, or rather, some _one_ who intrigued him almost as much as _She_ had. It was a boy, hardly out of childhood. He had so much potential he could taste it. And yet, _something_ seemed familiar about him.

As Hisoka Morow lifted the dark-haired boy off the ground by the throat, the mist swirling around his ankles, the boy stared down at him. With a jolt to his memory, silver-grey eyes flashed through his mind. It was the same expression, the same tempest.

A grin curled his lips as his grip around the boy's throat tightened. The boy lacked refinement… the grace and precision that the Woman possessed. At times, he wondered where she had gotten off to. Twelve years was a rather long time to be gone, and he was positively _starving_ for a good fight. The child squirming in his grasp was young, inexperienced. But he still had _so_ much _potential_ …

" _Don't look at me like that…_ " he crooned, his eyes narrowing and his grin widening.

He left shortly after letting the Boy go. The child had to be the Woman's. There was no doubt about it. _I'll look forward to seeing what becomes of him~ 3_

 **A/N: Whew, almost forgot to upload this despite how excited I was. I was definitely inspired when I wrote it. Hopefully Hisoka is in character for this... Hope you enjoyed it! I may not have had a Valentine this year (or any year in the past, come to think of it), but I know that I'm looking forward to all the candy that'll be on sale tomorrow!**

 **Have a nice day/night, wherever you guys are!**


	11. Chapter 9

**Warning for some foul language. This story is rated T for a reason.**

"All right, men," Ging paused, glancing over at Vera. "And woman. This is it."

"The big one." interrupted Kiero from the back.

"The one we've all been waiting for!" exclaimed Maccus. Harin spoke to Vera as he examined a copy of the map that Bo had been working on.

"He's made this speech every morning for the past two weeks. Obviously, we haven't been very successful yet."

"Shut it, you," grumbled Ging. He cleared his throat. "Alright. This will be our twelfth expedition thus far, and our new companion, Vera, is a fellow Hunter. She is ultimately here for her own reasons, but is coming with us because of correlating goals. Anything to say before we go in?" He asked. Vera, to whom everyone had turned now, swallowed at having everyone's eyes on her.

"Not at the moment. May we proceed?" Vera's tone was clipped as she fought not to let her nerves get the best of her. Ging just nodded and jerked his head at the entrance.

"Alright then. Let's get going." And he headed inside, Bo and Maccus just behind him. Vera entered last behind Okkoto.

At first glance, the entrance to the tomb looked like just a hole in the side of a ridge, but upon further inspection it seemed that the original entrance was actually much larger. I looked like the combination of time and the absence of upkeep allowed the earth and roots of trees to collapse it partway. Once inside, however, the tunnel opened up into a larger space, where some of the walls could be seen, depicting a variety of strange gods. Scuffmarks and scratches marred the stone walls and the entrances to several other tunnels leading off into the darkness.

"Alright, so yesterday we went down this tunnel on the right; no luck there, _and_ it was crawling with those big things, so I guess we should head down the far left…" Ging muttered, examining the map that Bo had unrolled with a lit flashlight.

"What about the middle passage? Looking at the general layout of this place, it looks like the others just lead to hallways connecting to each other in rings. The best bet we have of finding the treasure is to head straight to the middle." said the muscular cartographer, gesturing to something on the map. Ging visibly cringed.

"No way; we're not going that way. I get a really bad feeling about it. And besides, my nose is way too sensitive and something down there just _reeks._ Also," Ging pointed at the door. "The door's locked up so tight even _I_ couldn't break it down, which is saying something."

Indeed, when Vera took a closer look at the middle passage, it, unlike the other passages, had a large, heavy-looking stone door blocking the way, with what looked like a keyhole in the middle. The markings on its surface were so worn that she couldn't tell what they were supposed to be, and Vera could feel a slight pulse of Nen come from the lock itself. Her eyebrows drew together in thought, and she addressed Okkoto next to her.

"Have any of you ever picked up anything unusual while exploring here?" Okkoto's bushy mustache wriggled as he thought back.

"I don't think so. All we've come across are those creatures that live down here, and perhaps the only truly unusual thing about this place is whatever is behind that door. For whatever reason, it puts Ging on edge, and when he's worried, we're all worried."

Vera understood what he meant; just standing near the door gave her the willies. But she wasn't about to back down now. So, gathering up her courage and taking a deep breath, she addressed the boy at the head of the company.

"It is in my opinion that we should try to get through the door. There must be a reason that it would be locked up so tight in the first place, hm? It may be the treasure you are looking for, and that bad feeling you get could just be that we are close to the nest of the creatures who live here." Ging quirked an eyebrow up at her skeptically.

"Oh really? And how do you suppose we get through the door, then?"

"It has a keyhole; if we can find the key, then we can open the door." explained Vera. Ging groaned.

"Yes, I _know_ that, but in all the places we've already gone there hasn't been any hint of a key anywhere! In the meantime, I say we head down the far left. We've barely got anything on the lower level, and I have a feeling that the deeper we go the closer we are to finding the treasure." he said, and without another word to his companions, strode off down the aforementioned tunnel. Vera growled lowly under her breath, but followed after him behind the others.

The tunnel turned out to open up into a long stone hallway that sloped down and curved ever so slightly to the right. Arched doorways lead into other rooms on the right side of the hallway every so often, but Vera couldn't make out what was past any of them in the darkness. Maccus paused every so often to snap a photo of something carved on the wall, and Vera turned to him confusedly when he pointed his camera at her.

"Just documenting." he explained in a hushed whisper. Vera blushed lightly when the camera shutter clicked and captured her image. Maccus gave her a thumbs-up.

Suddenly, the sound of something thumping along the stone floor made everyone look up. Ging leapt to the side to press his back to the wall and signaled for the others to do the same. Vera withdrew her aura into herself and erased her presence when she caught a glimpse of whatever was approaching from farther down the hallway.

It was another one of the creatures, but it was clearly not a scout. This one was ten feet tall, and it had sharp spurs extending from the backs of its front legs, along with a tail that featured a bony, bulbous end. Vera heard Ging curse quietly and, holding his flashlight high above his head, stepped away from the wall.

The creature snorted, its scales puffing up in a threatening manner as its nose twitched and its eyes locked onto the boy in front of it. Letting out an earsplitting shriek, it charged at Ging, and he dodged nimbly out of the way. Vera immediately directed the others into one of the darkened archways and crept back to where the soldier was whipping its tail at Ging, still making those terrible shrieks. The boy himself was nimbly dodging all of its attacks, and his hands glowed in preparation for an attack of his own. Vera's jaw clenched when a beam of white light shot from Ging's hands, only just grazing the soldier's flank. Through the bright light, Vera could just barely see that his hands were shaped like a gun.

What smelled like burnt hair permeated the air, and the creature shrieked. Ging's blast had only burnt off the tips of some of the scales, which explained the scent, but they were blackened and smoking, blood oozing from the parts where the beam had cut deeper. The creature shuddered and puffed out it's sharp scales, trying to make itself bigger as it faced Ging, said boy preparing another attack. A straight shot like that would have killed the beast. Not on Vera's watch.

The girl launched herself forward and shoved the boy's arm up and out of the way, making his shot go way off the mark. Before Ging could properly yell at her, Vera shoved him out of the way as the creature charged at them again. She rolled nimbly underneath its belly and stood facing it once more. Holding out her hand, a staff materialized in her hand. Keeping her eyes locked on the creature, she prepared herself for its next attack.

 _Alright Vera, just another rampaging creature to deal with, no problem, all you need to do is hit it a few times with the staff and then-_ Vera's thoughts were cut off as someone let out a shout and leapt up _onto the creature's back._ Ging was now scrabbling for a handhold on the sharp puffed up scales on the soldier's thick neck. Vera gaped in a mixture of both disbelief and outrage.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" she screamed, and she could just barely hear Ging's reply through the din.

"SOME MEASLY STICK AIN'T GONNA DO SHIT AGAINST A HIDE THIS THICK!" he shouted, locking his legs around the beast's neck and placing his palms flat on its forehead. "THIS SHOT'LL RATTLE ITS BRAINS ENOUGH TO WHERE WE CAN MAKE A RUN FOR IT BEFORE IT CAN CHASE AFTER US!"

Vera felt like screaming with frustration as Ging's hands glowed with power. Her legs moved on their own as she darted forward and vaulted into the air, staff at the ready as she landed nimbly on the beast's back, unintentionally using the top of Ging's head as a springboard and sending him face-first over the front of the creature and onto the stone floor. The staff whirled expertly in her hands as she danced gracefully down the length of the beast's back, landing light taps with the staff as it writhed and twisted, desperately trying to snap at her with its jaws. Ging, rubbing his forehead, rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed by its tail and spurs when it kept turning in circles.

When Vera landed back on the stone floor behind it, she turned calmly back around and held her other hand out to the side before whipping it forward. What looked like dust converged into the shape of a moth around the size of a small dog as it zipped over to the beast. The creature reared back in confusion and the moth merely went where commanded, landing briefly on the spots that Vera had previously struck and glowing very slightly brighter as it went. The effect was almost immediate as the beast's legs gave out and its beady eyes drooped with fatigue. Finally, it fell to the stone floor with a crash, soft snorts erupting out from its nostrils as it fell into a deep sleep.

The moth returned to Vera's arm and chirped once before disappearing once more. She let out a deep breath and approached the slumbering beast, resting her hand on it fondly. Heavy footsteps approached her and she turned to see Ging glowering at her.

"Y'know, you didn't have to use my head as a launchpad. Your feet must be made outta steel or something, 'cause that kinda hurt."

"You had no need to fire a shot that could have killed this poor thing. You made me a promise, remember?" she retorted, walking past him and checking behind the archway. The others were peeking out from behind it, and now seemed to look at her in a new light.

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Maccus. "I got so many awesome pics! _I'm definitely keeping this one of Ging's faceplant for myself…_ " he muttered. Bo just grunted, but looked appreciative. Or at least Vera seemed to think so. Okkoto had strode over to the slumbering beast, examining the sharp scales on its back. Glancing back over to Ging, Vera noticed that he was wincing slightly whenever he moved his hands.

"Hey…" she said, and Ging looked up, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah?"

"Your hands… those scales were pretty sharp. Are they alright?" asked Vera, stepping forward. Ging turned away, keeping his hands hidden in his pockets.

"Yeah, they're fine. Just a little lapse in concentration-"

"You can't use Ten on them when you're charging your attack, can you? Is that one of your restrictions?" when he didn't answer, Vera gripped his wrist and slowly pulled his hand out to where she could see it. The skin of his palm was torn and bloody and he inhaled sharply when Vera traced her finger lightly over one of the cuts.

"Here," she said, slipping her pack off of her shoulders and digging around inside. She pulled out a roll of bandages and some disinfectant. Vera took his hand. "This might sting a bit…" she warned before dabbing on the disinfectant. Ging hissed and wrinkled his nose at the pain, but stuck it out as Vera treated his hands. Once she was finished, she began to roll on the bandages around his hands. Partway through, she could feel his stare and she paused, looking him in the the eye.

"What is it?" Ging didn't answer, but his eyebrow twitched and Vera could have sworn his face got somewhat pink.

"Nothing…"

Vera finished wrapping the bandages around Ging's hands and opened her mouth to ask when they would be moving on when a rumble shook the ground. Ging cursed, eyebrows lowering as the rumbling turned into the more distinct sound of paws thumping, tails swishing, and claws scraping along the stone.

"Damn… looks like we made a bit too much noise…" Bo growled.

"Hope you still have some ounce of cooperation in you, Miss Princess," said Ging. "We're gonna have to work together to get out of the shitstorm this is undoubtedly gonna turn into."

 **A/N: Helloooo everyone. Finally, we get to some action sequences! Many more to come in the future, btw... Anyway, I kind of had to improvise on Ging's Hatsu, since it doesn't** ** _quite_** **specify what it actually is, so I built from what I was given. And since I was just watching, surprise surprise, Yu Yu Hakusho the other day I'm just like 'Hell yeah let's give him a Spirit Gun-like ability.' Although you might be wondering a bit more about Vera's Hatsu. Let me just tell you that neither Ging nor Vera have fully developed their Hatsu just yet, and they've got a lot fewer restrictions now than in the future. And it took me for-freaking-EVER to both come up with Vera's Hatsu AND give it realistic-sounding restrictions. Really, I'm almost proud of myself and then I start wondering 'But are those restrictions** ** _enough_** **for the OOMF she's gonna have later on?'**

 **I should stop rambling or I'll give too much away. I'll just say that Vera is STILL a CONJURER, and will ALWAYS BE a CONJURER. Not that I have anything against Specialists, but I feel like that's a bit too overdone in fanfics and they're supposed to be pretty rare in the first place...**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and see you next time!**


	12. Mother's Day Special!

"Alright, kid. We gotta have a talk."

Silence.

"You've been giving your mother a fair bit of trouble these past couple months..."

A rustle. "Huh? Ging, what are you doing?"

"All that tossing and turning - just calm down a bit, will ya? If you come out too early you'll just be half baked."

Vera looked down at Ging from her place on the couch. He was crouched close to her swollen belly, and as he spoke to it she could feel a kick.

"And I want as much sleep as I can get before you do pop out and ruin all that rest and relaxation; I _am_ a busy man, after all, and whenever you bother your mom, she bothers me and wakes me up so I can give her a massage. So just quit it already." he said, and Vera snorted.

"You? A busy man? Doing what? Running around Greed Island with your friends and making stupid videos with that camera that was supposed to be for 'documentation purposes'?" Ging looked up at her.

"What's it like having a basketball in your stomach?" he asked, poking Vera's stomach. She swatted his hand away.

"Don't change the subject."

"It's still technically documentation! We make those videos while we're on the island itself!" defended Ging. Vera just sighed and decided to let it go. She rubbed her stomach pensively. Ging raised an eyebrow.

"What'cha thinking about?"

"Everything really is going to change, isn't it?" she said. She felt another kick where her hand rested and she smiled slightly. "He's got so much energy… Looks like he'll be a handful when he's born…" Ging looked a little worried.

"Y'know… Vera… I, um… I wouldn't know what to do if…" he trailed off. Vera sat up slowly from her reclined position on the couch and took Ging's face in both of her hands. She stared straight into his eyes.

"Do not think for even a second that you might lose me. And even if something does…" Vera shook her head. "I have been told time and time again how stubborn I can get. You're not going to lose me, and we will stumble our way through this together." She said, taking Ging's wrist in her hand and brushing her thumb over the tiny firefly tattooed onto it.

 **A/N: I'm a bit late for Mother's Day, but I thought I ought to acknowledge it. I also had this sitting in my documents and thought it fit. Hope you guys enjoyed this little tidbit!**


	13. Chapter 10

**Just a warning for some gore. I love to write me some gore.**

 **Also things start getting dark. But not too dark; gotta save some of that for later arcs :p**

 **Sorry if this chapter is short; I got to a good stopping point and going any further just seemed wrong somehow.**

The group attempted to make themselves as small and inconspicuous as possible in their little alcove as the thumping and scraping of many paws grew nearer. Ging and Vera readied themselves to spring out and draw the soldiers away from the rest of the group, barely even breathing as the first of many creatures appeared at the end of the corridor. Vera's legs tensed, her staff materializing in her hands, preparing for action…

The two teens leapt out of the alcove, ready for the onslaught of claws, teeth, and tails, only for the enormous beasts to thunder right past them. Exchanging a somewhat confused look, the two backed up against the wall to keep from getting trampled. It almost seemed like the creatures were running away from something…

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, the beasts were scrabbling down the corridor in a frantic manner, not even paying the group any mind as they rushed past. Even a few of the small scouts were among them, weaving under and between the much larger paws of their brethren. The last of the stampede cleared away down the tunnels and Vera pursed her lips. She felt thoroughly embarrassed by her blunder.

"Well," piped up Maccus. "That could've been worse."

As if the universe had heard his words, a rumbling sound shook the ancient corridor, and the unmistakable sound of falling stone reached everyone's ears. Bo peered around to where the group had come, only to be met with a wall of heavy stones. He turned back to Maccus.

"You just had to say it. How the hell are we getting out now?" Maccus shrugged.

Okkoto looked a little worried.

"The question is not how we are getting out; it's what we're trapped inside with."

Vera's eyebrows drew together as she analyzed the now blocked off corridor. The only way to go was the path the creatures had come from. She heard faint muttering coming from behind her and turned to look at Ging, who had a hand to his chin and had an uncharacteristically (to Vera, at least) pensive look on his face. Vera cleared her throat. Everyone stopped and turned to her. A small blush painted her face at everyone's eyes on her.

"Well…" she said hesitantly. Bo's skeptically raised eyebrow and Ging's small frown added to her anxiety. Not even Okkoto's soft encouraging smile could completely calm her nerves, and Maccus was busy photographing the fallen rocks. "I suppose that the only way… is to just keep going down this corridor." the group's expectant silence forced her to keep going.

"We have no way of knowing how many of these rocks have fallen, and any of them could crush us if we try to move them or cave in more, even if…" she trailed off, giving Ging a look as if to say ' _Even if we tried to force them away with Nen._ The other teen nodded, frown lifting into a blank expression.

"Well? You heard her. Let's go."

The tunnel grew steadily cooler and cooler the farther the group went, and small droplets of water could be heard hitting the stone floor. Everything was completely silent.

 _Almost too silent…_ thought Vera, stepping over a thick, purple root. _It's like whatever scared those creatures away just-_ Her thoughts were cut off by a groan and a cough from Ging.

"Geez… something down here sure as hell stinks…"

Vera gave an experimental sniff. A sickly sweet scent hung in the air, almost like the odor of mothballs, but it was so faint that Vera hadn't even noticed at first.

"You can smell that?" she asked. Ging nodded.

"Oh yeah. My sense of smell is crazy strong. I'm like a dog, I swear."

"I knew that already."

"Oi!" Ging clutched jokingly at his heart. "Why must you wound me so~?" Vera shook her head and sighed. Ging's face contorted again, and the odor was getting stronger, that sickly scent morphing from mildly remnant of mothballs to the unmistakable smell of something that had just recently died. When Vera looked back at the rest of the group, they were all holding their noses in disgust, and ahead of her she could just barely see Ging's eyes watering.

The passage suddenly opened up into a large circular chamber, and ahead of them was a large, dark mass slumped against the curved wall to the right of the entrance. Another door stood on the other side. Vera could hardly breathe with the horrendous stench oozing from it, and worry made itself known in her chest when she spotted that Ging had braced himself against the doorway. She approached him in concern but he held up the hand that wasn't covering his nose and shook his head, looking quite green.

A low slithering sound made itself known to the group, making most of them turn to look at the mass against the wall. The mass almost looked like it was… writhing… and when four flashlights illuminated it, there were a few exclamations of disgust.

It was one of the soldiers, but the whole of it was covered in wriggling, purple worm-like vines. It was shivering and drooling, its beady eyes hazy. Patches of dead grey skin could be seen where scales had fallen off. The soldier hissed at the lights, thick bloody saliva splattering the ground in front of it. Vera turned her flashlight away from the creature's eyes, but it still hissed at them and started to bring its feet under itself to stand. Some of the vines attached to its body were attached to a crack in the wall, and the thinner ones snapped as the creature stood up.

Vera gestured for the rest of the group to stay back, covering her nose with her hand and breathing through her mouth. The poor beast was stumbling, as if it were drunk, and whined in pain when the vines trapped it against the wall, digging into the creature's rotting flesh and leaving it to pull at them like a curbed dog. Vera's heart filled with pity. This poor creature was sick and in pain, and the others had abandoned it to a slow death so as to not get ensnared by the vines themselves. _Perhaps the tunnel was purposefully collapsed, to quarantine the area…_ This situation was turning out to be more serious than she had previously thought.

Gritting her teeth, she came to a decision. Vera lifted her hand in front of her and the dust appeared again, converging into the large moth from earlier. Taking her staff in her other hand, she approached the creature, who started to hiss and shriek before Vera darted forward and lightly tapped her staff between its eyes before backing away again. The moth zipped forward and landed on the spot, staying put even as the beast hissed and roared, shaking its head and panicking. Soon though, it quieted down and slumped to the floor, the moth still sitting on its forehead. Vera approached once more, this time, with a large hunting knife clutched in her hand. Her eyes watered from the odor, but she did her best to ignore it as she steadied the tip at its spine. The scales were no longer hard, but soft and fragile.

 _Suffer no more, and be free in the next life, my friend._

The sharp knife slid easily through flesh and bone, severing the beast's spinal cord. It's rattling breaths came to a halt, and the wriggling vines shivered before retracting from the creature's body and back into the crack in the wall. The moth vanished, its glow making the room dark once more, except for the illumination of the flashlights.

When Vera turned around, she noticed that Okkoto and Maccus had crouched down next to a trembling Ging, who still looked like he was going to be sick. Bo was... wait.

Where was Bo?

 **A/N: Oohh spoookyyy**

 **Also I imagine that having a really strong sense of smell could be debilitating under certain circumstances.**

 **And yes. I am aware that in the beginning of this update I really wound you guys up for some action... that didn't happen. Sometimes my writing gets away with me. Whoops! :p**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


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